Last week, DOT’s Maritime Administration released the first of a comprehensive, multi-phase study forecasting the impact that the Panama Canal expansion will have on U.S. ports and our overall transportation system.

The Shanghai Shipping Freight Exchange Co will launch the world’s first derivatives for shipping capacity delivery on Thursday in a bid to meet increasing demand for hedging tools.

Analysts said that the contracts will provide better insight into domestic shipping rates, as well as giving China a larger voice in pricing and more experience in developing financial products for the shipping industry.

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Comments Off on A Magnificent Transformation: World Shipping 50 Years Ago and Today

It began to take shape fifty years ago. Parts of the outline of the highly efficient global merchant shipping industry we see today started to become visible in the early 1960s. The transformation process was already well under way by then, in the tanker sector. But back in 1963 much of the world’s shipping system, consisting of cargo liner services and dry cargo tramp trades, was not functioning well. Dramatic changes were beginning, however, which would revolutionise the dynamics over the next decade and beyond.